Business bankruptcies in New Mexico are down as
the state continues to recover from the recession.

A federal court report says
there were 182 business-related petitions filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Mexico in 2012. That's
the lowest number of petitions filed in the state since 2007 and down from 203
in 2011. The recent high was 302 petitions filed in 2009.

According to the
Albuquerque Journal, many of the petitions cited in the report are filed by
individuals who are small business owners.

A joint memorial resolution
introduced in the state Senate on Thursday calls for a study that would look
into the financial implications that would occur if the state started taxing
and regulating marijuana like it does tobacco and alcohol.

And at least one
study by a Harvard professor estimates that the state could make up to $21
million a year in new revenue, while saving another $33 million on the
enforcement side.

Senate Joint Memorial 31, introduced by Senator Jerry Ortiz y
Pino would call for the state Economic and Development to form a workgroup to
study how much revenue that taxing marijuana would generate as well as save.

The study’s results would then be presented to the Legislature in 2014.